EAR Charge (archived)

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Last updated: Aug 28, 2020 by Christopher Bulock
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CSU Electronic Access to Resources (EAR) Committee charge (revised and approved June 2015)

The EAR Committee was formed in 1990 to explore ways in which the resources of the CSU libraries could be maximized through shared acquisition of electronic resources and digital content.

The Committee works together to seek electronic resources and digital content that has value to the entire CSU system. It surveys the campuses to get input concerning the Electronic Core Collection (ECC) and new content that becomes available. It can also request trials for products that might be beneficial to the entire system.

The Committee meets regularly throughout the academic year with one (1) in person meeting at the discretion of the chair(s). Regular business meetings are open to any interested party.

The Committee evaluates information from the CSU libraries, seeks consortial arrangements, and works with vendors to develop economies of scale.

Membership:  Membership is as follows:

  • Two (2) library deans who serve as chair and chair-elect.
  • Eight (8) librarians, consisting of five (5) from the areas of collections and/or electronic resources, and three (3) from other areas of library work.
  • One (1) representative from the Office of the Chancellor. (Director, Academic Technology Services Contract Management )

At any given time, EAR does not have members from every CSU campus; however, the selection of EAR committee members by the Council of Library Deans (COLD) is based on a balanced representation of members from both northern and southern campuses and from large, medium, and small campuses.

Scope of Committee Activities: The EAR Committee has identified the scope of its activities to include:

  • Examine the long-terms goals of the CSU libraries as developed by COLD and responds to these goals with recommendations on the acquisition of the full range of digital information resources.
  • Review and compare digital resources currently available and evaluate as requested, for consortia negotiation. Evaluation will be conducted through open trials of products across the system with feedback of these product trials received from as many sources as possible through product surveys.
  • Regularly survey and analyze the needs of CSU libraries regarding existing and desired electronic information, databases, and online information resources.
  • Develop benchmark criteria for decision-making, vis-a-vis digital resources and selection/addition/deletion of resources to the ECC and the CSU consortia. This may include various standardized usage data, cost/benefit analysis. Final decision-making in EAR reflects the potential value to the CSU as a whole, and not solely on the needs of a specific campus.
  • Regularly disseminate minutes of EAR activities, information-gathering methods, and decisions and archive these minutes in the location selected by COLD.
  • Cooperate with other COLD committees as requested.

Working Groups: EAR may at times create or dissolve Working Groups to assist the committee with its charge. At least one voting member of EAR will be a member of each working group but other members of the working groups may not necessarily be voting members of EAR, All working group members are encouraged to participate in regular business meetings.

Working Group membership may vary in size dependent on the needs of the tasks involved.